A hat trick by Damon Hanson was the highlight in Bighorns' 8-1 win against the Yellowstone Quake.

Hanson's first goal came 8:11 into the first period. He then added goals at 3:53 into the second and at 8:22 into the second.

The Helena Bighorns' Jett Salinas was a brick wall in net, as he came up with 27 saves and let only one puck past him. Despite the solid performance, Salinas will actually see his goals against average rise, as it stood at 0.93 entering the contest.

Helena forced its penalty killing units to work especially hard during the game, picking up eight minors and one major for 41 minutes in penalty time. The total exceeded the 18.0 minutes per game the Bighorns had been spending in the box. Helena forced Quake's netminders to work between the pipes, racking up 54 shots and forcing 46 saves. Jared Schletty made 31 stops and JT Blum made 15. The Bighorns excelled on the penalty kill, not giving up a single goal in six chances.

Helena additionally got points from Christian Axelson, who also registered one goal and one assist and Jacob Wolter, who also tallied two goals and one assist. Theo Campe also scored for Helena. More assists for Helena came via Cody Blom, who had two, Wyatt Winfield, who had four, and Kyle Baker, John Petersson, and Kevin Choi, who contributed one a piece.

Yellowstone's offense operated below it season average. The Quake average 4.4 goals per game. Yellowstone could not stay out of the penalty box, as the team accrued 34 minutes in penalties during the game.

Yellowstone also got a goal from Brandon Busse as well. Other players who recorded assists for Yellowstone were Bryan Standly and Josh Neumann, who each chipped in one.

Helena registered one goal on five power play opportunities. The Bighorns ran into serious disciplinary problems during the contest, and Hanson was ejected from the game.